What is more reliable? Natural aspiration or forced induction?
This is another question where blanket statements such as “natural aspiration is more reliable than forced induction” are made. No one can make a generalized statement like this with out considering the factors of the specific application. Well designed forced induction systems can be reliable even on vehicles not supercharged or turbocharged from the factory. In general, it has been our experience that forced induction has gained a bad reputation in the aftermarket community because either the system was not designed properly or the system places so much fatigue on the rest of the vehicle’s components not designed for this amount of power. Both causes for poor reliability will affect both natural and forced induction applications. The fact is a very small fraction of modified vehicles of any type producing significantly more power than factory are naturally aspirated. Based on numbers alone, more occurrences of problems with forced induction applications are bound to be discussed. Hig
